Journal by M #1

I have been thinking of doing a series of blog posts that are more about my everyday life, much like ones I do on my Youtube videos, such as my German Uni Vlog Series. I would like to write more about what I'm up to, what I'm enjoying right now, and I would love it if you would share yours too in the comments section.

Netflix

On Halloween, my friends and I came together for a movie night; we watched the Nightmare Before Christmas and The Haunting of Hill House, which prompted my decision to subscribe to Netflix (a four-way share, of course, so I'd only have to pay €3,5/month!).

I have been familiar with Netflix and its series for years -it's nearly impossible not to be with their increasing dominance at the Emmy's and the internet's obsession with them. Go to Buzzfeed's homepage at any given time, and I can almost guarantee you that there will be a quiz on a Netflix series' character, an article on one of their series, or even a simple reference of them in an unrelated post.

I have been binge-watching many TV series since then, most of which are Netflix Original Series, such as Queer Eye, Chef's Table, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Next on my lists are more docu-series, like Making a Murderer, which seems interesting. However, I am rather annoyed at how different the list of available TV shows and movies are in the German Netflix compared to the standard US version, there are multiple shows I'd like to watch that aren't available in Germany, and some that are available often has less seasons to offer; except of course, the Netflix Originals.

(Re)-learning English

As the end to my Bachelor's studies is getting nearer, I have had to start preparing for my Master's application seriously, and one of them is the English proficiency qualification. I consider myself to be fluent in English, and has been so for years; I attended an international school and also took my A-Levels in addition to the standard Indonesian National Examinations after high school. Nevertheless, I need an updated formal English proficiency certification.

Normally a TOEFL or IELTS is considered a standard, but as they cost upwards of €200 -a hefty bill for a certificate that will expire in two years- I considered another option; taking English classes at my university to get the UNIcert, which is widely recognised in Germany, and also has no expiration date.

This meant tacking another 4 extra class hours to my schedule, but if I'm honest, these classes are way more fun than my usual classes. The fact that it's in english doesn't hurt either; it breaks up the drones of german I have to listen to on an earl basis. This semester, I'm taking the C1 Conference Skills and Academic Writing class. I would've preferred to take the C1 General classes, but they weren't available.

Given the amount of time I've been spending on Netflix lately, it may not come as a surprise that I chose Netflix as my short presentation topic for my Conference Skills class; it was nice to do something more whimsical and light in comparison to other presentations I've had to give in my usual classes.

Meditation

I have been interested in meditation for quite a while, but I have been really poor with doing it consistently. I have downloaded two apps since last spring, Headspace and Calm, in order to motivate me to meditate, and yet I'd only do one or two days, and then go for months without meditation. This month I decided to take another go at it, as I have found meditation to be helpful in keeping my mental health. If you have a favourite meditation podcast which episodes last under 15 minutes, please let me know, I'd love to check them out, as the meditation apps offers very little outside of its premium content. I don't have a problem with going premium, but before I do, I'd like to be sure that I can keep meditating consistently as to not waste my money.

Content Backlog

Over the summer, I have been really fortunate to be able to travel, as you can follow on my Euro Trip vlog and my Berlin Diaries Series. However, this created a new found problem that I have never had before : content backlog.

I have so much to say, write, and show you all, but the sheer amount of files that I have truly overwhelms me. It is the reason that I keep putting it off, and the reason I have only been putting out one content a week; either one blog post or one video. Somehow the urge to procrastinate is much stronger when you are up against a 30 minute long raw video content that is spread out over 100 different snippets.

I therefore have to apologise for this, and I can only hope that you don't find my content to be stale, even if I'm pushing them out months after the fact.

So as not to drone on and make this post too long, I'd like to end my first Journal by M post. I hope that I can continue with this series and make it a regular on my blog. I also hope that you've enjoyed it!


xo,
Maria